| |
 That
roller-coaster-ride-of-a-journey follows with a haunting rendition
of Kate Bush's "The Man with the Child in His Eyes"
before venturing into tunes by Peter Allen, Alice Cooper, Paula
Cole, Tori Amos, Queen, Tom Waits, Freddie Mercury as well as
a new piece by Klikovits, "When Love Is Gone." Although
the disc includes just one theatre song — a bonus track
of Weill and Brecht's "Pirate Jenny" — Greene
is such a terrific storyteller that each song becomes a theatre
piece in itself. As I've written before, Greene's emotional
nakedness and fragility comes across in everything she sings.
Just listen to her delivery of Simpson and Miller's "Ready
for Love": Like the greatest of theatre ballads, in Greene's
hands (and voice) the longing she expresses is completely heartbreaking.
Other highlights
include fiery renditions of "Nothing Blues" and "Throwing
Stones"; a reading of Alice Cooper's "Only Women Bleed"
that includes some humorous, off-the-cuff remarks by back-up
vocalist Maiya Sykes; the best version of Peter Allen's "Pretty
Pretty" I've heard; a touching take of "Too Much Love
Will Kill You"; and the aforementioned Klikovits ballad,
"When Love Is Gone."
Two of my
favorite tracks are Tori Amos' ravishing "Winter"
and the wrenching "Love Is Everything" by Jane Siberry.
It's impossible not to be moved as Greene pours her heart out
in the Siberry lyric: "Love is everything they said it
would be/ Love did not hold back the reins/ But love forgot
to make me too blind to see/ You're chickening out aren't you?/
You're bangin' on the beach like an old tin drum/ I cant wait
'til you make/ The whole kingdom come/ So I'm leaving . . .
I gave my love didn't I?/ And I gave it big sometimes/ And I
gave it in my own sweet time/ I'm just leaving."
The recording
is simply sensational, songs delivered with honest emotion by
a multi-talented artist. With only a few months left until 2005,
I believe "In His Eyes" is the solo vocal recording
of the year. |
